Loyalty Pledged To Interim Goverment

January 25, 2002|By Tyler Marshall Foreign Correspondent

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Easing concerns about a possible challenge to central government rule, the leading political force in southern Afghanistan told a large rally here Thursday that he will work to resolve regional differences peacefully and in close consultation with leaders in Kabul.

At the first major public event in the birthplace of the Taliban since the regime's demise, Kandahar provincial Gov. Gul Agha Shirzai made a very public pledge of loyalty to interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai.

His remarks were made to several thousand residents who had crowded their way into Kandahar's main sports stadium for a series of rousing political speeches, mainly in support of national unity and the return of the former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, as a symbol of that unity.

Shirzai and Karzai joined forces against the Taliban in the battle to capture Kandahar late last year, but they were generally viewed as uneasy allies, with both men maneuvering for U.S. support in the weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Since Karzai's appointment as interim prime minister, there has been uncertainty about how Shirzai would respond. On Thursday, Shirzai appeared eager to erase worries he is trying to consolidate his power.

"We are always ready to accept the decisions of Hamid Karzai's government on all issues," he told the crowd. He also dismissed as propaganda reports that he is preparing to dispatch a force of 20,000 troops west to take on Ismail Khan, the leader in Herat province, after hearing allegations that ethnic Pashtuns in the area are being harassed.

Khan is an ethnic Tajik. Kandahar's population is mainly ethnic Pashtun.

"We won't take a single step against anyone without our [national] leader's decision," Shirzai told the crowd. "We'll talk with Ismail Khan to solve the problem of Pashtun treatment. We have come to power for peace, not to fight."

After the rally, Shirzai told reporters that he had spoken by telephone to Khan four times about reports of Pashtun harassment in Herat and that he had contacted officials in Kabul, the capital, about the issue.

Shirzai's comments came as a welcome counterpoint to reports of heavy fighting earlier this week in the northern province of Kunduz, where troops loyal to ethnic Uzbek commander Abdul Rashid Dostum are said to have wrested one district from forces loyal to Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president and head of the Northern Alliance.

There also have been reports of clashes between rival groups in eastern Paktia province.

Shirzai's brief speech dovetailed into a central theme of Thursday's rally: the necessity for national unity as a basis for rebuilding the country after more than two decades of war and political turmoil.

An array of speakers also voiced their support for the former king and for the uniquely Afghan political forum known as a "loya jirga," or grand council, to decide the successor to the interim national government.